Earn 3 Graduate Credits Composing Video Game Music
Renew your license and climb your salary lane with PD you'll actually be excited to open after school, compose real game cues, coached by the composer behind Call of Duty: Mobile, and leave with a unit plan your students will beg to start.
Meet your students inside the music they already love
Your students spend more time in game soundtracks than in any concert hall. Game composition is the bridge between the music room and the music in their lives, and it teaches motif, form, orchestration, and technology standards along the way.
Re-engage your classroom
Bring composition to life through the games your students play. Every framework you learn becomes a lesson they'll actually remember, loops, boss themes, biomes, and adaptive scores.
Credit that counts
Graduate semester credits from a regionally accredited university, the most widely accepted currency for license renewal and salary-lane advancement, posted to an official transcript.
Learn from AAA composers
Study with Jeff Broadbent (Call of Duty: Mobile, Heroes of Incredible Tales 2) and educator-composer Dan Spencer. Real scoring craft, not theory-only PD.
Five modules. One classroom-ready result.
Scoring the Game: Video Game Music Composition for Music Educators, 45+ contact hours of composing, analysis, and applied classroom design.
Gamer Grooves, The Composer's Toolkit
Motifs, subphrases, game forms, biomes, safety & conflict themes, seamless loops and dynamic tracks: 12+ hours of lesson video trained through high-rep sketching on real scores (Zelda, Pokémon, FF7, Donkey Kong Country).
Call of Duty Academy, with Jeff Broadbent
Action scoring from inside a AAA franchise: rhythm and stakes, motif under pressure, hybrid orchestral production, and how music tracks gameplay pacing.
Heroes of Incredible Tales 2 Academy
Fantasy-action scoring through an award-winning AAA score (NYX Game Awards, Best Music): themes, vocals, orchestration, and cinematic scale, then turn observation into an original cue.
Music Money, Careers & the Business of Game Audio
The professional landscape you'll relay to students: music packs and marketplaces, outreach, pricing, contracts, and sustainable creative careers.
Educator Application Practicum built for teachers
Design a National Core Arts Standards–aligned unit plan for your own classroom, compose a three-cue portfolio (exploration loop, conflict cue, adaptive transition), and complete a graduate reflective paper, rubric-graded with instructor feedback.
56 documented contact hours (video runtimes independently verified) against the 45 required for 3 graduate semester credits, you'll have hours to spare.
Learn game scoring from people who score games
Dan Spencer
Founder of Best Music Coach; composer, producer, and music educator who has coached hundreds of musicians from first loop to shipped soundtrack. Creator of the Gamer Grooves training method and the 4M Composition Protocol.
Jeff Broadbent
Internationally recognized game composer, Call of Duty: Mobile and Heroes of Incredible Tales 2 (NYX Game Awards “Best Music”), with credits across major game and media franchises. Jeff leads the two AAA Academy modules.
From enrollment to transcript in three steps
Enroll & start today
One registration covers the full program and university credit fees. Work self-paced, most educators finish in 8–12 weeks at 4–6 hours per week (a summer, or one semester of evenings).
Compose & complete the practicum
Finish the five modules, submit your three-cue portfolio and NCAS-aligned unit plan, and get rubric-graded instructor feedback within 10 business days.
Credits post to your transcript
Our regionally accredited university partner posts 3 graduate semester credits and issues an official transcript you submit to your district or state licensing office.
Graduate semester credit on a university transcript is the format required in transcript-strict states (like Florida) and the safest route in provider-restricted states (like Illinois). Always confirm salary-lane and renewal rules with your district before enrolling, we'll help you check; just email us.
Everything included. One price.
Courses in this program retail for $1,200 on their own, before university credit fees. Educators get the complete graduate-credit package for one flat tuition many districts will reimburse.
- All 5 modules, 56 documented contact hours (45 required)
- 3 graduate semester credits + official university transcript
- University records/registration fees, no surprise add-ons
- Rubric-graded practicum with instructor feedback
- NCAS-aligned unit plan template you keep and teach
- Lifetime access to all course materials & updates
Secure checkout · We set up your enrollment personally and email your access within 1 business day.
Questions first? lessons@bestmusiccoach.com
Open any module and see what's inside
Course-by-course detail, straight from the curriculum.
Module 1 · ~20 hrs
Gamer Grooves, The Composer's Toolkit
The composer's toolkit, trained through high-rep sketching: you study how real game scores work, then write your own. 12+ hours of lesson video.
- Video game motifs, subphrases, and game forms
- Safety themes, conflict themes, and biomes
- Seamless loops: intro + loop, loop + outro, transitions, and stingers
- Layering and harmony for dynamic tracks that react to gameplay
- Full Town, Boss, Lava, Water, and Ice theme walkthroughs, with sketch studies on Zelda, Pokémon, FF7, and Donkey Kong Country
Module 2 · ~9 hrs
Call of Duty Academy, with Jeff Broadbent
A five-part masterclass with the composer behind Call of Duty: Mobile, on scoring action from inside a AAA franchise. 4 hours 35 minutes of video.
- Rhythm and stakes: how action music keeps the pressure on
- Motif under pressure: themes that survive a dense mix
- Hybrid orchestral production for modern action scores
- How music tracks gameplay pacing, mission to mission
Module 3 · ~9 hrs
Heroes of Incredible Tales 2 Academy
Score study from inside Heroes of Incredible Tales 2, NYX Game Awards winner for Best Music, in five parts. 4 hours 20 minutes of video.
- Fantasy-action themes and how they're built
- Vocals and orchestration at cinematic scale
- From observation to your own original cue
Module 4 · ~6.5 hrs
Music Money, Careers & the Business of Game Audio
The business side your students will ask about: how composers actually get paid. 4 hours 25 minutes of video.
- Freelance vs. in-house; publishers vs. developers
- Positioning, your composer website, and pitching demos
- Networking, submitting demos, and how composers get selected
- Contract negotiation, getting paid, and handling revisions
- Selling music packs on itch.io, Game Dev Market, Unity, and Roll20
Module 5 · ~12 hrs · built for teachers
Educator Application Practicum
The module built for your classroom: apply everything to a unit your students will actually do.
- National Core Arts Standards–aligned unit plan template: standards table, objectives, a five-lesson model sequence, and a UDL/access plan
- Three-cue composition portfolio: exploration loop, conflict cue, adaptive transition
- Graduate reflective paper with guided prompts
- Rubric-graded with instructor feedback within 10 business days
Questions educators ask
Will this count toward my license renewal or salary lane?
The program awards 3 graduate semester credits from a regionally accredited university on an official transcript, the most broadly accepted form of educator continuing education in all 50 states, and the format specifically required for transcript-based systems like Florida's. District salary-lane rules vary, so confirm with your HR/licensure office; email us your state and district and we'll help you verify before you spend a dollar.
How much time does it take, and is there a deadline?
Plan on 45-56 hours total. Self-paced: most teachers finish in 8–12 weeks at 4–6 hours per week, one summer, or a semester of evenings. You can start any time.
Do I need to be a composer already?
No. If you can read music and have basic keyboard or instrument facility (you're a music teacher, you do), the sketch-training method takes you from imitation to original cues step by step. Many participants write their first game loop in week one.
What technology do I need?
Any DAW works, GarageBand, FL Studio, Logic, Reaper, or the free browser-based BandLab. If you can record MIDI or audio on a laptop, you're equipped. The practicum's classroom unit includes a no-cost technology pathway for your students, too.
When do the credits appear on my transcript?
After you complete all five modules and your practicum is graded (feedback within 10 business days), our university partner posts the 3 graduate semester credits and issues your official transcript, typically within a few weeks of course completion. Exact posting timelines are published at enrollment.
Can my district or school pay for this?
Often, yes, many districts reimburse graduate credit tied to license renewal or salary advancement, and Title II / PD funds can apply. We provide an itemized receipt and syllabus for your reimbursement paperwork on request.
What's the refund policy?
Full refund within 7 days of purchase, no questions asked, as long as you haven't started the courses. Once you start the course material, the purchase is final and no refund is available. To request a refund, email lessons@bestmusiccoach.com. Any credit-enrollment drop or withdrawal window set by our university partner will be published at enrollment.